What I Learned at Camp!

Last week I had an opportunity to spend a week with over 300 campers.  Kids Camp is a place where kids can be kids.  A place where they can play, develop friendships, and experience God in a life changing way.  Last week I was reminded of a few lessons that go beyond Kids Camp.

1. Things don't always go as planned.
No one planned to get a broken arm, but one boy left camp early with one.  We didn't ask for it rain on Wednesday causing the pool and other activities to be closed for an hour.  

Life has many surprises.  Some are good and others are unpleasant. How we respond is the key.  We can respond with anger and impatiently or we can respond with understanding and with God's love.

2. Life is better together.
Or leadership team was effective because we worked well together (even the Canadians). The Teal Team was the winning team becasue they worked well together too.  Well, it did help that they had more campers than the other teams.  Kids could only experience the Giant Swing as a group.  It simply couldn't be done alone.

We weren't created to live in isolation but rather we are to do life in community.  That's why circles are better than rows.  Together we can accomplish far more than we could ever dream of doing as individuals.

3. Choose your battles carefully.
I have a type A personality.  I have definetely been accused of being OCD and being a perfectionist and being over analytical.  There are some things that happened at camp that I didn't like.  I certainly got anxious when morning chapel ended late or when Cabin18 was always late for meal times.

But I had to choose my battles.  Many of the things that bugged me were just my own personal preference and didn't have any lasting effect on anyone's overall camp experience.

You may have some circumstances in your life that you need to let go of and others that you may need to fight for.  God can give you the wisdom to discern which is which.

What We Can Learn from Baseball - Even the Mariners!

I have lot of positive baseball memories.  I remember back in 1995 being in Bellevue Square watching from a Foot Locker when Edgar Martinez hit the double to score Cora and Griffey, sending the Mariners to the ALCS.

Just a few weeks later I was in my apartment listening on radio as the Braves won the World Series.  I like the Mariners but I love the Braves!

As a child I can look back to when I was eleven years old and our majors team won the championship.

I love baseball.  It's not boring or too slow.  There's so much strategy involved.  In fact, there are some great life principles that we can take from it.

Bottom of the ninth.  There's no time clock in a baseball game.  Even if you're down by 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth there still is hope.  I'm thankful that at our lowest point there is still hope.  Anything is possible for God.

It's a long season:  A MLB season consists of 162 games.  You can almost guarantee that even the best team will lose at least 50 games.  There are only a few exceptions.  A baseball season is full of losses and bad days.  Kind of like our lives.  Think about your last week, or last month, or last year.  What comes to mind?  I imagine some really good things and maybe some difficult circumstances.  Hebrews 12: says . . . 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses in the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."

Baseball is a team sport.  Nine guys are on a field at a team.  Everyone has to contribute.  Nelson Cruz can be dominating from the plate.  But if the bullpen stinks (aka Rodney), and the defense is terrible (pick any appropriate Mariner) then the team will still lose games.  Life is simply better together.  That's why things like Life Groups are so important for believers.  They provide support and encouragement even during  a long season and especially in the bottom of the ninth.

So the next time you are enjoying a great baseball game remember that there is always hope, to keep running the race, and that life is better together,

Go Braves!  Go Mariners!

We provide leverage!

Did you ever watch the TV show, Leverage?  This drama series aired on TNT from 2008-2012.  It followed a five-person team: a thief, a drifter, a hacker, a retrieval specialist, and a former insurance investigator.  As a team they used their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.

The famous line from the shows opening credits says, "We provide leverage.

The word leverage is defined as the ability to influence people. events, or decisions.  

This coming Sunday I'm looking forward to speaking about one of my favorite heroes from the Bible, the patriarch Joseph.  Joseph had the character to leverage his influence for the greater good.

You can read the narrative of Joseph's life in Genesis 37-50. Joseph lived a life of ups and downs.  He was chosen, betrayed, tempted, and imprisoned before he become second in command.

In Genesis 39:20b-21 we read that " . . . while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden."

As a prisoner Joseph could have seen his situation as hopeless, Instead, he did his best with each small task given him.

Sometimes we may feel like our situation is hopeless,  We may be unhappy in our job, in our marriage, with our sport's team (come on Mariners).  But how we respond in those situations is the key.

You see Joseph' s diligence and positive attitude were soon noticed by the warden.  

In Genesis 39:22-23 it says, "So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.  The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did."

Prison isn't a place where you feel like you would want a promotion.  But while in prison Joseph was not only promoted but he was able to leverage the influence to interpret some dreams.

Events don't always turn out the way we planned.  Joseph didn't plan on being in prison.  

Life may not be going as you planned.  At home, or work, or school, follow Joseph's example by taking each small task and doing your best to leverage your influence for the greater good.  You can be a hero by just thriving in whatever task you have been given.

Best Week Ever

Best Week Ever!  What comes to mind?  A childhood memory?  A family vacation?  

I have had the opportunity to serve on leadership teams at summer camps for most of the last 15 years.  It is always one of the highlights of my entire year - maybe one of my Best Weeks Ever!

I have so many great memories of camp over these years. The birthday cake field activity (flour, water, and frosting), amazing worship and altar times, fun times hanging out with our cabin staff counselors playing German Uno.

• Camp takes kids and counselors out of their normal routine.  The TV is turned off, screen time is eliminated.  
• Camp provides an environment where kids slow down to play and have lots of fun.
• Camp also provides an environment where they can hear from God, can encounter God in a new way, and experience life change.
• Camp even provides an opportunity for kids o develop controlled independence while being surrounded by so many positive role models.

There are lots or ways you can invest in your kids.  Football Camp.  Horse Camp.  Summer School.  All of those things in themselves are wonderful.  I love that my kids are apart of sports.

But there is no greater investment than the investment you make into your child's spiritual life.  In the end that's all that really matters.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to get your kids to camp.  On August 10th-14th I'll be at SOAR Kids Camp in Cedar Springs with a great group of campers and cabin leaders from Inspire Church.  For more details, go to http://www.icskagitvalley.org/what-we-do/inspire-kids/soar-kids-camp---the-amazing-race

Holy Heroes Batman!

I'm just young enough and old enough to be a fan of the original Batman TV show starring Adam West.  It was one of my favorite shows.  Watching one of the shows now is kind of lame.  I mean it was kind of cheesy. 

The cool thing about Batman though is that he doesn't have any super powers, he just has really cool gadgets.

• Batmobile Bat-phone
• Shark Repellent Bat Spray
• Anti-Penguin Gas Pills
• Batcomputer Bat-Key

A great quote from Batman is: "The true crime fighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt."  You may not have Batman's utility built, but there's tremendous power in being a follower of Jesus.

Starting the first Sunday in July our church will be learning about different Heroes from the Bible. In Inspire Kids, the focus will be on how Big Heroes serve a Big God.  In our main service, the focus will be on how the Bible is more than just a manual, it is a story of history which comes alive when one studies the people involved.  These people are real and have a story of their own to tell.  A story that can apply to every follower of Jesus.

Most weeks the kids will be learning about the same Bible Hero as their parents will be.  We can all be a hero. We may not be able to fly like Superman, or walk through a wall like Green Lantern, or have super strength like the Incredible Hulk; but a real hero doesn't need those things.

We can be strong, we can be a hero if we trust in God and his strength. What is God asking you to do?  

Maybe you can be a hero by leveraging your influence to benefit others like the patriarch Joseph did.  Or maybe you're the hero that can never be counted out like King David was.   

Be strong.  Stand up for others.   Speak up for the weak.  Be the modern day hero that God is asking you to be! 

School's Out! Now what?

Summer is here.  School's Out!  Now what do I do with my kids all summer.  With our kids out of school it can be stressful and not relaxing.

There's that pressure to keep your kids busy so they don't get bored or to keep them out of trouble. Depending on the age of your kids, they need different things.

• Young children:  need their parents participating in quality play.
• Elementary Children:  Need interactive activities with peers and parents.
• Middle Schoolers:  Need peers involved in all summer activities and begin to need less parent involvement.
• High School Students:  Need to begin work while they have fun in the summer.

Summer is a great time to create positive memories as a family.  Look back at your past year.  What jumps out of you?  It could be a tragedy or it could be a great memory like a family vacation.  Our kids look forward to my wife's family reunion every year.  I probably drive her family crazy and they drive me crazy sometimes.  But I guess it adds to the memory.

There's an app available from Orange Leaders called "Legacy Countdown."  Here's how it works.

1. Enter a child's name and graduation date.
2. A countdown for the clock will begin.

Our oldest son, Isaac has his first summer job.  So he's living in Chelan with his grandparents as he works this summer.  The house is really quiet without him.  I'm excited for this growth opportunity for him but it's also a reminder that we only have about 200 weeks left before he graduates from high school.

Time is running out.  It can be depressing or exciting, depending on your perspective.  Value the time you have with your kids.  It won't last forever.

Hope

Hope is an interesting thing isn't it?  It is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  As I child I was hopeful that someday I would be a NBA star for the Los Angeles Lakers.  I only had a couple of challenges:  I was short, slow, and didn't have a great jump shot!

We hope for so many things.

• Money
• Love
• Peace
• Happiness
• Good Health
• For the kids to sleep in on Saturdays.

Although we hope for so many things, we don't find true hope in those things.  Real hope only comes through faith in God.

Joseph is one of my favorite characters from the Bible.  God spoke to Joseph through dreams.  Joseph didn't just have a feeling of expectation but he had a certainty of expectation.  He knew certain things were going to happen.  Despite that certainty, life wasn't easy for Joseph. His bothers threw him in a pit and left him for dead.  Pharoah's wife got him thrown into prison.

Yet God was faithful to Joseph in each of these circumstances.  God brought hope to what must have seemed to be a hopeless situation

"So Pharoah asked them, 'Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the Spirit of God?"  

Genesis 41:38

That's what God does.  He brings hope where there seems to be no hope.

We see this a lot in sports.  The game seems to be over and yet a team makes an unbelievable comeback.  My favorite comeback of all time is the 1991 National league Division Series between the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Braves were down to their final out, with the slowest runner on their team at second, and a seldom used guy up at the plate.

No matter what you are going through, No matter what you're desire or expectation for something to happen, God can bring hope.  Maybe its finances or relationships or a sickness.  Whatever your situation, hope remains.

He has not abandoned you.  He is there for you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  Put your trust in Him.